Excellent, warm boots! Used these boots in the Uintah Mountains of Utah during a 3 day 2 night campout in January. Temperatures near 9000 feet, during the afternoon, dipped to -5 degrees with a 6 foot snow pack. My feet always felt warm! The boots worked flawlessly with snow shoes and are crampon compatible. Excellent stiffness for climbing. The boots are tough and will last a long time if properly taken care of. Excellent for mountaineering.

Customer Service

Very helpful. I wear a size 12 US shoe, and thought that I should purchase a size 13 to give my feet room for socks. Lowa Civetta Extreems are measured in UK size, so a 12 UK is a 13 US shoe size. I contacted BentGate on the phone and they told me that I could return the size 12 UK boots and they would credit my account. I sent them my size 12 UK boots, and I then authorized them over the phone to charge my credit card to purchase the size 12.5 UK (13.5 US) boots instead. I got the 12.5 UK size boots within 2 days and they fit wonderfully! I'm still waiting for my credit card account to be credited, but BentGate is in the middle of moving their store to a new location, so things are rather slow.

Similar Products Used:

Trango Extreme - This boot was very well made, fit wonderfully, and seemed very tough. The only complaint I had was that the boot did not have enough insulation for extended, sub-zero cold conditions.

I have owned the Lowa Civetta Extreme for three years now, and they are awesome!! I have yet to be cold even in -17 F temperatures without overboots! Technically they are superb for both mountaineering and ice climbing. I even use mine for snow shoeing!

These boots are the best I have ever used in ice climbing. Comfortable, easy to break in, and even a bit fashionable. The shell is lightweight but very durable and pliable enough to get a good tight fit. The inner boots are extremely warm and the heels dont shift when front pointing in crampons. Well worth the money.

These are, by far, the most comfortable plastic boots I've worn. The fit is much more like a light leather boot. (I got one half size larger than my street shoe.) The competitors feel like wooden clogs, in comparison. My only real complaint about walking in them is with the weight. There is, of course, not much that can be done about that if one wants the advantages of plastic. It would be nice if they were more supportive for front-pointing, but that's the trade-off for comfort on mixed terrain.
I have mixed feelings about the Gore-Tex liners. The membrane does its job and keeps the inner boots dry when there is moisture inside the outer boot. However, the liner is not as warm as Lowa's hype. It's fine, but it's not quite as cozy as Lowa would have you believe.
It appears that Lowa makes one size outer boot for two sizes of liner boot. I have the larger of those two sizes. This means that the boot is wonderfully close-fitting and not clunky. However, it can be very difficult sometimes to get the liners in and out of the outer boots. By the time I'm ready to put on my boots, I'm exposed to the elements, and I don't want to have to fight with my boots at that crucial time.

Similar Products Used:

Scarpa
Koflach
Asolo

Great boots. Light feeling, low volume, and extremely warm. Do ajust about anything in them. Ice, rock, mixed, hiking, are no problems. They kick ass

Customer Service

Awesome customer service. THey have a very knowledgeable staff that are willing to help in any way they can.

I purchased these boots (the red and black ones) a few years back right after they came out. I went ahead and purchased the Civetta Extremes over the plain Civettas since the Extremes come with a warmer, Gore-Tex liner. The liner is good, but not as warm as an aveolite liner like those available for the Scarpa Inverno. It is, however, more durable than an aveolite liner. The Gore-Tex liner also takes a good while to dry.

I've climbed mountains in Mexico and Ecuador in them and my toes have only been cold once or twice. I may be a bit reluctant to try Denali with them, but an overboot should provide the extra warmth. I've also done some ice climbing with them in Ouray, Colorado. They were very stiff (good) for ice climbing and I've never experienced shin bang while wearing them. The old model Scarpas were notorious for causing shin bang. I ordered the same size boot as I wear in a street shoe (10) and the fit is perfect. I would probably try another boot if I were ever going to climb a Himalayan peak, but they should do just fine for anything in the Western Hemisphere.

Customer Service

Locating the model was a bit of a challenge. I had to contact Climb High to find out which vendor had received the boot in my size. Then I had to order the boot from the vendor. Also, don't expect to pay anything less than full suggested retail.